Tour · 6 stops · ~5 hours (with tickets and queues)
Paris Vertical
Six rooftops, in altitude order.
Climb the city. The free rooftop, the secret one, the famous one, the highest one. Done in a single day this is exhausting but spectacular; spread it across two if your knees prefer.
- 1
Galeries Lafayette terrace
Eighth-floor rooftop terrace, free. ~50 m above street level. Sacré-Cœur, the Opéra, and the Eiffel Tower are all visible from a single panorama. Most tourists don't know it's there.
Free — no ticket, no queue. Take the escalators (not lifts) to the top floor; rooftop signage takes you the last leg. Order a coffee at the small bar if you want to sit; otherwise just walk the perimeter.
48.87360, 2.33200
2Arc de Triomphe
~50 m. Paid ticket, 284 steps. The view down all twelve radiating avenues — the only place in Paris you can see Haussmann's geometry from above — is the architectural payoff for the whole 19th-century rebuild.
Use the pedestrian tunnels on Champs-Élysées or Avenue de la Grande Armée — never cross the roundabout above ground. Buy a timed ticket online; same-day queues at the base are 45 min in summer. Sunset is the move; bring a light jacket, the platform is breezy.
From Wikipedia›
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often simply called the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France. It is located at the western end of the Champs-Élysées, at the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle—formerly known as the Place de l'Étoile—named for the star-shaped configuration formed by the convergence of twelve radiating avenues. The monument is situated at the intersection of three arrondissements: the 16th, the 17th, and the 8th. Commissioned to honor those who fought and died for France during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Arc bears the names of French victories and generals engraved on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I, marked by an eternal flame commemorating unidentified fallen soldiers.
Read more on Wikipedia →48.87380, 2.29500
3Tour Saint-Jacques
~62 m. The flamboyant Gothic tower (sole survivor of the demolished church Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie) is climbable only on summer-weekend tours run by the city. Tickets sell out weeks in advance.
Book at the Mission du Patrimoine site; tours operate Saturdays and Sundays from June to September only, 39 people per tour. A guided climb (1 hour, French) — they do open one English tour per weekend if you ask. Wear closed shoes; the staircase is cramped.
From Wikipedia›
Tour Saint-Jacques is a monument located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France, on the Rive Droite. This 52-metre (171 ft) Flamboyant Gothic tower at the intersection of the Rue de Rivoli with Rue Nicolas-Flamel is all that remains of the former medieval Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, which was partially rebuilt in the 16th-century and demolished in 1797, during the French Revolution, leaving only the tower. The stones of the old church were treated as if it were a quarry.
Read more on Wikipedia →48.85800, 2.34930
- 4
Sacré-Cœur dome
Dome at the top of the basilica, 213 m above sea level — the highest publicly accessible point in central Paris after the Eiffel and Montparnasse towers. 300 narrow spiral steps; no lift.
Entrance is on the left side of the basilica facade — separate ticket, paid in cash at the bottom of the stairs. Avoid Sundays (mass crowds the parvis). The dome closes earlier than the basilica; check the day's schedule.
48.88670, 2.34310
- 5
Tour Montparnasse
210 m. The 56th-floor observation deck and rooftop terrace. The single best view of the Eiffel Tower in the city — because you're looking at it from above, with the whole of central Paris between.
Take the lift (38 seconds) to floor 56, then a short staircase to the open-air rooftop. Better than the Eiffel for sunset because the Eiffel is in your photo. Closed for maintenance occasionally; check the day-of schedule.
48.84210, 2.32200
6Eiffel Tower
276 m to the top. Three viewing levels — first floor (57 m), second floor (115 m), and summit. The summit lift only runs from the second floor, so it's two separate ticketed climbs.
Buy summit tickets weeks ahead — same-day usually means second-floor only. Climb the stairs to the second floor (704 steps; about 30 min) — far cheaper, way fewer queues, no time pressure. Then take the summit lift from there.
From Wikipedia›
The Eiffel Tower is a lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889.
Read more on Wikipedia →48.85840, 2.29450
About Paris
Paris maps every physical object in the city on one infinitely zoomable map. Tours are curated walks across the data — pick one and the map will draw the path, number the stops, and step you through them one by one.